1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiper apparatus for a vehicle and, more particularly, to a stretchable wiper apparatus having a foldable wiper arm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional wiper apparatuses for vehicles suffer from the following problems. Namely, the overall length of a wiper arm and a wiper blade, which constitute a wiper assembly of a typical conventional wiper apparatus for a vehicle, is disadvantageously long, and the wiper assembly is inconveniently positioned at the lower end of the front side of a window glass of the vehicle when it is not used, which inhibits an occupant of the vehicle from having a clear view of the outside from the inside of the vehicle and which involves a fear of the wiper assembly interfering with an external machine or member for the vehicle, such as a car cover, a car washing machine or the like.
In order to overcome the above-described problems, there has already been proposed one type of wiper apparatus which is so designed that a wiper assembly, particularly, a wiper arm and a wiper blade, can be accommodated in a portion of the inside of the vehicle which is in the vicinity of the window glass (see, e.g., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 660,050 and Japanese Utility Model Application Nos. 158341/1983 and 168232/1983) However, this type of wiper apparatus has the problem that the size of a chamber for accommodating the wiper arm and the wiper blade is unfavorably large, and the size cannot be minimized.